CDB aid package for Haiti
The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has announced a four year aid programme for Haiti.

The CDB said the Country Strategy programme involved an assessment of the government’s development agenda and the development challenges confronting the country.

The bank is also providing a US$10 million grant to Port-au-Prince as part of a broader support programme by international financial institutions.

The Rene Preval government has been appealing for assistance for the impoverished country, which still has not recovered from the devastation of last year’s hurricanes.
Cuba unfreezes bank accounts

The Cuban Central Bank has approved the release of some funds in foreign business accounts that have been blocked by the government for months.

The government took the decision in January when the country began to feel the effects of the global economic crisis.

Business officials said some 600 accounts, with frozen funds estimated from $600 million to $1 billion, would be involved.

But while renewed access is welcome, business sources said it is being offered on the condition that they continue to do business with the island.